Pakistan: Vitol in talks to buy stake in Hascol Petroleum
Pakistani fuel retailer and storage provider Hascol Petroleum is in talks with global oil trader Vitol Group to sell a stake of the company.
According to Bloomberg, the companies are “exploring a possible transaction which could involve an investment by Vitol in the shares of Hascol and also a supply-rights arrangement,” Zeeshan Ul Haq, Hascol’s company secretary, said in a filing to the Karachi Stock Exchange.
Hascol Petroleum markets and stores fuel oil, diesel, gasoline, lubricants, LPG and jet fuel. The company expects to have a portfolio of around 300 gas stations by the end of 2015.
“It will be a game changer for Hascol to have Vitol as a shareholder,” saidMumtaz Khan, the chairman and chief executive officer of Hascol, to Bloomberg. “It should help us to import products at more competitive prices.”
Due to the low and volatile current crude oil prices, major oil traders such as the Vitol Group are investing in fuel retailing networks in Asia and Africa, as well as in fuel storage facilities, which should prove to be a profitable asset once oil prices recover.
